Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 at 7:30pm, Niles West Theater Department will present its spring musical, Avenue Q.

This won’t be the typical theater production because along side each actor will be a puppet. The actors themselves become their puppet character and use their own body as an extension of the actions and emotions the puppet feels.

“This show has been different, probably one of the most unique musicals I’ve ever worked on in my time here [at Niles West] because working with puppets is different,” theater director Andrew Sinclair said. “Everything that you’re used to doing with your own natural hands, actors had to realize how to do that with a puppet at the same time.”

Avenue Q  is a comedic musical that follows the life of Princeton, a 23 year old puppet who just graduated college and moves to New York City on a journey of growing up. Princeton will be played by freshman Grant Kilian, along side with co-lead Kate Monster, who will be played by freshman Alana Knobel.

“It was interesting to see two students who were new to Niles West, new to our program, come in and earn their roles in the audition process,” Sinclair said. “It’s comforting to me to see young performers who are ready and have the talent to compete with some of our students who have been involved in 20 plus shows.

Since the musical involves puppets, many like to compare the show to another very famous children’s TV show, Sesame Street.

“It’s like what Sesame Street would be like for adults,” assistant director sophomore Elissa Hoffman said. “This is such a fun show because we get to work with puppets which is totally different from the normal high school musical.”

Many cast members are excited to perform this energetic, cartoonish play.

“I’m excited to perform it [the play] in front of a large audience because we’re able to feed off of their energy and their response to the show to keep our energy going,” senior and cast member Rachel Weisbecker said.

“I love how you can never really take your eyes off of the puppets (along with their puppeteer counterparts and human characters),” freshman cast member Jimbo Pestano said. “I really love the heart and humor of the show. When you take away the Sesame Street-like vibe, it really is genuine. It’s such a cute show and I’m hoping everyone will appreciate and enjoy all the hard work we’ve put into it!”